The Follow Files: Unbeaten Melbourne Cup chance returns in style

[Wandering Eyes]

Last Saturday, we had feature racedays at Randwick, Sandown and Ascot, with the second day of The Championships taking centre stage in New South Wales. Meanwhile, Sandown hosted its Easter Cup Day and Ascot held its annual WATC Derby Day. From those meetings, we have found three runners to follow in the coming weeks.

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Sandown – Easter Cup Day

Track rating: Soft 6 (Soft 7 after R7, Heavy 8 after R8)
Rail position: True entire circuit

Race 7: Victoria Handicap (1400m) | Time: 1:26.09

• Horse to follow: Cardinal Gem (1st)

Grahame Begg has been clear about his ambitions for Cardinal Gem after he won the Listed Weekend Hussler in the spring last year, saying that he wanted to lift his ratings to get him into the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap during the Brisbane Winter Carnival. Now that he has $550,000 in prize money and Listed and Group 3 wins to his name, he is very close to owning a high enough rating to get a spot in the field for the feature $3 million race on June 10. The four-year-old gelding was dominant in the Group 3 Victoria Handicap, defeating Frankie Pinot by 2.25 lengths while being eased down in the final 50m of the 1400m event. After his win, Begg doubled down and said that he deserves his spot in the Stradbroke in a couple of months.

When to bet: With the Stradbroke Handicap set to be run in just over two months’ time, we expect to see Cardinal Gem one more time before his potential start in the Group 1 – so if we do see him race again, we will be backing him. If you really like Cardinal Gem, he is currently $15 with online bookmakers in the Stradbroke Handicap futures market.

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Race 8: Easter Cup (2100m) | Time: 2:15.65

• Horse to follow: White Marlin (1st)

Another runner from Saturday’s Sandown meeting with lofty ambitions is the Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott-trained White Marlin, who is en route to the 2023 Melbourne Cup after taking out the Group 3 Easter Cup over 2100m in his first run this preparation. Now that the five-year-old gelding has extended his unbeaten start to his career to six wins, he looks set to take on the Mornington Cup and Andrew Ramsden Stakes at his next two starts to try and gain direct entry into the Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup in the spring.

When to bet: There is very little chance that we will get much more than even money to back White Marlin at his next two starts, but given his win first-up, he looks to be a great futures play in the Caulfield Cup ($8) and Melbourne Cup ($10) with solid quotes at the best betting sites.

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Randwick – The Championships Day 2

Track rating: Heavy 8
Rail position: +4m entire circuit

Race 10: Sapphire Stakes (1200m) | Time: 1:13.00

• Horse to follow: Never Talk (2nd)

After 19 races were run and won on a very wet and tired Randwick track, the Group 2 Sapphire Stakes was the last race to be run for The Championships. The race winner in Zapateo was very good, but Never Talk in second place was just as impressive when you consider the run she had. The Kris Lees-trained mare settled at the rear of the field before Dylan Gibbons made his move at the 600m to pick off runs and make his way through the field. As the field rounded the home turn, she was still five or six lengths off the leaders and two lengths behind the winner. Never Talk ran the fastest last 400m of the race and the ninth-fastest last 400m of the meeting, showing that her finishing burst didn’t just look good on the eye, but on the clock also.

When to bet: Never Talk was only second-up for her preparation on Saturday, so we expect to see her push on to the Brisbane Winter Carnival and take on the Group 3 Dark Jewel Classic over 1400m or the Magic Millions National Classic over 1600m – two races she contested last year at the carnival. Whichever race she goes to next, we will be following her closely.

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